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While we begrudge no one their luxuries, it is always important to understand why things are considered valuable. Ermine for example is dotted with those dark little lines that are so lovely to the eye. In reality, ermine animals' tails were pinned onto cloaks and capes to show how many were used in creating the specific piece of raiment.

It is difficult to step outside of your Western heritage [if it is yours], but if you try, sometimes the idea of  animal tails being tacked onto the capes of royalty for centuries seems quite uncouth. This type of historical origin story is important--we cannot forget the past. Why wedding dresses are white, why Romans wore iron rings, why the hand symbol [hamsa/hand of Fatima or Miriam] and blue eye [nazar/evil protection] symbol are widespread all over the world, especially the Mediterranean and Middle East: all these things are crucial to understanding our present. Sometimes the eye is even put on the palm of the hand symbol.

We can only know a culture if we know its past and where its customs come from.